Youth Ministry Blog
Our collection of youth ministry blog posts will encourage and equip you as you navigate the challenges of life and ministry. Because we know ministry life can be difficult on a heart level, many of our youth ministry blog posts are aimed to help you see through a gospel lens. Sure, the X’s and O’s of youth ministry are important. But, at G Shades, our primary goal is to equip you for gospel centered youth ministry. Oftentimes, that requires more than just tips and tricks.
Keeping Students Engaged During Messages
PROBLEM It’s hard keeping students engaged during a whole message, isn’t it? That’s probably part of the reason youth pastors have historically spent so much time on interactive elements and funny videos. Now don’t get me wrong. Incorporating interactive elements into a message is a good and healthy part of
It Doesn’t Matter If It’s Sin
“He touched the butt.” That is one of my favorite quotes from, not just Finding Nemo, but maybe any animated film ever. And the fact that that is the case demonstrates very clearly that God has hardwired me for a life of youth ministry. If you’re familiar with the film,
Dealing With Failure In Ministry
Lately, I’ve been engrossed with the reality that in the gospel, your story matters. Like, part of what makes the gospel of Jesus Christ so beautiful and captivating is that it meets you right where you are in your story. Wounded by the absence of your dad? The gospel is
Why Being Better Isn’t Better
Do you believe the Word of God? Seems like a simple, straight forward question with a predictable response in return – coming from people who are giving their lives to the proclamation of scripture. But, let’s be honest. Culture is subtly yet constantly filling our ears with the messages of:
A Gospel Lens for Volunteer Recruitment
I’ve rarely met a partner in ministry who would recount their situation regarding volunteer workers as being one of overflow. Typically, there is some felt need surrounding either the quantity and/or the quality, of the leaders who are seeking to step into the sheep pin with us. On the one
Immanueling: Your New Favorite Verb
Like most youth workers, the season of COVID youth ministry was a weird one for me. In some ways, I found myself growing as a youth pastor as I learned new ways to innovate in an attempt to keep students connected. But in other ways, I spent that core 15-month
How Politics Helps Youth Pastors Be Better
During the 2020 presidential election campaign, there was a new face that managed to achieve relative prominence in the world of politics almost out of nowhere. Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur, burst onto the scene as a (super) long shot to win the Democratic nomination. He even managed to make it
Lean Into The Problem
One of the coolest things about growing up in the generation I grew up in has been watching counseling become a mainstream thing. I feel like I’ve been able to watch very closely as culture has gone from brushing off counseling as an extreme solution for crazy people, to a
The Gospel For The Exhausted In Ministry
Recently, my 32 year old husband woke me up before the dawn one morning, informing me that he needed to go to the hospital. My solid and steady man was uncharacteristically shaky and unstable as he fought to express that he wasn’t well, and that he had endured almost 10
You Need A Gospel Lens Too!
August 9, 2021 — If you’re anything like me, you’ve been a Christian for a fairly long time. I mean…you don’t want to sound like a know-it-all…but you’ve been around the Jesus block a few times. Heck, apparently you’re so good at following Jesus, somebody decided to put you in charge of helping teenagers follow Jesus too!